Engine starter



Aug. 16, 1932. E, R, KUHLS 1,871,892

ENGINE STARTER Filed July 3l, 1929 am w Patented Aug. 16, 1932 UNITSSTATES PATENT; OFFICE ERNEST R. KUHLS, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TODELCO-REMY CORPORATION, F

ANDERSON, INDIANA, A CORPORATION 01E DELAWARE ENG-INE STARTERApplication. led July 31, 1929. Serial No. 382,538.

This invention relates to a mechanism for shifting a rotatable bodyalong its axis of rotation, and more particularly toimprovements in themanufacture of a shifting col- 5 lar slidable axially along a shaftwhich supports it, and having flanges receivingstuds or the likeextending from arms of a bifurcated shifting lever.

Heretofore it has been the practice to manufacture shifting collars byturning them from solid bars of stock in order to provide a cylindricaltubular body having an annular flange at each of its ends. It isparticularly an obj ect of this invention to provide a shifting collarwhich can be manufactured from two formed sheet metal parts, -each ofwhich is shaped so as to provide a cylindrical flange and an annularflange extending in a plane at right angles tothe axis of thecylindrical flange. lThe two parts of the collar are secured together bypassing the cylindrical fla-nge of less-er diameter through thecylindrical flange of greater diameter and by riveting the formeragainst the part carrying 25 the latter flange so as to retain both.parts of the collar in permanent assembled relation.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing wherein a preferred embodiment of one form of they presentinvention is clearly shown.

In the drawing:

F ig. 1 is a fragmentary side view, partly. in section, of an enginestarting apparatus embodying the present invention. Y

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 1l and 5 are detail sectional viewsof the two members adapted tobe secured together to form the collar of the gea-r shifting mechanism.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral designates an electric motorsupported upon the frame of an engine, not shown, said motor having anarmature 21 provided with a shaft 22, one end of which is supportedwithin Jthe frame of the motor, the other end in a bearingl 23 carriedin the gear housing 24. The gear housing is secured to the frame of themotor 2() in any suitable manner. The shaft 22 is providedV with aplurality of splines 25. A tubular member 26 supported upon the shaft 22has provisions for operatively engagingy the splines of the shaft sothat,

when the tubular member is shifted longitudinally onthe shaft, it willrotate relative to said shaft.

A pinion 30 is sli-dably supported upon the reduced portion. 31 of theshaft 22. Pinion 30 is connected with the tubular member 2 6 by anoverrunning clutch which.` positively connects the tubular'member 26.with the u pinion 30 when said memberf'is being driven by the motorshaft 22 for cranking purposes. If, after the engine has become selfoperating, the ypinion '30 is left in mesh .with the Aengine gear 33`said gear willY drive the pinion at a greater R. PfM.. than doesthemotor shaft 22 so that under these conditions the v the respectiverecesses is such that when the member 26 is rotated to crank the engine,rollers 32 will grip shell 29 and cause ittc rotatey therewith. If theshell be rotated at a greater'R. P.'M. than that of the starting motorthe rollers willpermitsaid shell torotatev relative to the head 27. A'cover cap28 retains the rollers 32 in proper position Within the clutch.v v The starting apparatus is provided' wit means for shifting thepinion 30 into and out of engagement with the engine gear 33. This meanscomprises a spool-shaped shifting co1- lar 40 slidably supported uponthe tubular y member 26. A spring 41 is interposed between the collar 40and the clutch-cam 27 so that as-thecollar 4() is moved along thetubularmember 26 towardy said clutch-cam, the spring ftlwill cause the tubularmemberV 26,

the clutch, and pinion 30 to be moved slidably along the shaft 22, thesplines 25 on said shaft rotating said parts relative to said shaft asthey are moved along said shaft, thereby facilitating enmeshment of thepinion 30 with the engine gear 33.

The gear housing 24 has a stud 56 which pivotally supports the actuatinglever 50, one end of which is provided with a yoke lportion 51 engagingthe collar 40, the other end of which has a rod 52 connected therewith.Rod 52 is connected with any suitable operating lever, not shown. Aspring 53 surrounding a sleeve 57 on stud 56 has one end engaging a pin54 supported by the lever 50, the other end engaging an abutment block55 provided by the gear housing 24. This spring normally urges the lever50 clockwise so as to move the collar 40 awayv from the clutch. Alocking ring 58 provided in an annular groove Vadjacent the outer end ofthe tubular member 26 limits this movement of the collar.

Operation of the lever 50 in a counterclockwise direction for enginestarting purposes will first move the collar 40 toward the right asregards Fig. 1,said collarA exerting a push on spring 41, which, as hasbeen explained heretofore, will move the tubular member 26, its clutchassembly and the pinion 30 toward the. engine gear 33. If the teeth ofthe pinion 30 mesh with the teeth of the engine gear 33,

lever 50 will, after such meshing of the teeth,

engage the switch plunger 60 supported on the switch housing 61, saidswitch plunger 60, after being moved a proper distance into saidhousing, closing the electricalY circuit through the starting motor 20,causing it to rotate, and thus the pinion 30 will be rotated to crankthe engine. In case the endsof the pinion teeth collide with the ends ofthe teeth of the engine gear 33 before meshing, continued movement ofthe lever in a counterclockwise direction is permitted, said continuedmovement compressing the spring 40.

As soon as the electrical circuit is closed by the switch plunger 60,the motor will start to operate, turning the pinion 30 relative to theengine gear 33, thus causing the teeth of the pinion to register withthe space between the teeth of the engine gear 33', the spring 41 thenurgingthepinion quickly to move into mesh with the engine gear so thatthese gears will be substantially engaged before the motor can attainits maximum speed, thus substantially reducing the danger of damage to'the teeth of the pinion and gear.

A' The feature of the present invention resides in the .shifting collar40. As shown in Fig. 1, this collar comprises two members and 71. Member70 is clearly illustrated in Fig. 4, and member 71 in Fig. 5. vMember,

470 is shown to be in the form of a ring 7 0a having a cylindricalextension coaxially thereof, said cylindrical extensioncomprising twoparts 706 and 7 00, the former being of lesser diameter than the latter.These two diameter parts 706 and 7 0c form a shoulder 70d in thecylindrical extension of this member.

The member 71 in Fig. 5 comprises a ringshaped portion 71a, having acylindrical eX- tension coaXially thereof, which comprises a part 716 oflesser diameter than another part 710. These two parts form a shoulder71d on the cylindrical extension of member 71. The part 716 of themember 71 is of greatergdiameter than the part 706 of the part 70, sothat the part 716 is adapted to lit upon and telescopically engage thepart 706. When part 71 is placed upon part 70 so that its part 716telescopically engages 'the part 706, and the outer edge of part 716edge of lshoulder portion 71d on the member 71. The inner end of 706 isnow spun outwardly so that it will grippingly engage said inner edge ofshoulder 71d, thus members 70 and 71y will be interlocked as shown inFig. 1. rilhe part 706 is adapted slidably to lit over the tubularmember 26. Due to the larger diameter portion 700 and 71o of thecylindrical extensions of members 70 and 71, annular pockets will beformed by the collar 40 about the tubular member 26. The end thrust orlocking ring 56 enters the one pocket to stop endwise movement of thecollar 40 when thelever 50v is operated to move collar 40 into normalinoperative position, the

spring 41 having its-one end seated within the other pocketformed bycollar 40, said 'pocket acting as a retainer for this end of saidspring.

From the aforegoing it may be seen that collar 40 is spool-shaped, madeup of two members formed from sheet metal, the cylindrical extensions ofsaid members cooperating to formA the tubular body portion of the collar40, the ring-shaped sides of said mem- "is integrally made.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as hereindisclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that'other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claimswhich follow.

What is Vclaimed is as follows: A 1. A collar having a tubular portionof substantial length adapted to slide along a cylindrical body, andcomprising two metal members formed of sheet metal of substantiallyuniform thickness, each` member hav- Yinga cylindrical portion one partof which is of a greater diameter than the other, the

smaller cylindrical portion of the one memmembers, the surroundedtubular portion ber telescopically engaging the smaller cylindricalportion of the other, said members each having an outwardly extending,annular flange at its outer end, the cylindrical portion of the smallestinternal diameter providing a bearing for guiding the collar upon thecylindrical body.

Q.. A collar having a tubular portion of substantial length adapted toslide along a cylindrical body, and comprising two metal members formedof sheet metal of substantially uniform thickness, each member having acylindrical portion one part of which is of a greater diameter than theother, the smaller cylindrical portion of the one member telescopicallyengaging the smaller cylindrical portion of thev other, said lastmentioned smaller portion having its end crimped outwardly against theshoulder formed by the two diametered cylindrical portions of the othermember whereby said two members are secured together, each member havingan outwardly extending, annular flange at the outer end, the cylindricalportion of smallest interna-l diameter providing a bearing for guidingthe collar along a cylindrical body.

3. A collar having a tubular portion of substantial length adapted toslide along a cylindrical body, and comprising two metal members formedof sheet metal of substantially uniform thickness, each member having acylindrical portion one part of which is of a greater diameter than theother, forming an annular shoulder in each cylindrical portion, thesmaller cylindrical portion of the one member tting upon andtelescopically engaging the smaller cylindrical portion of the othermember, the shoulder of the surrounded member being Vengaged by theinner edge of the surrounding member, and the inner edge of saidsurrounded member being spun into gripping engagement with the shoulderformed in the cylindrical portion of the surrounding member to securethe two members together, said members each having an outwardlyextending, annular flange at the outer end the inner cylindrical surfaceof the surrounded member providing a bearing for guiding the collar upona cylindrical body.

4. A spool-shaped collar adaptedto move along a shaft, comprising incombination; a ring-shaped member having a tubular portion extendingcoaxially therefrom; said tubular portion comprising two parts ofdifferent diameter; a second ring-shaped member having a tubularextension coaXially thereof of different diameters, the smaller diameterof which telescopically fits about the smaller diameter tubular portionof the other member; and a ange at the end of the surrounded tubularportion, engaging the surrounding tubular portion to interlock theproviding a bearing for guiding the collar along a shaft.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature.

ERNEST R. KUHLS.

